Who doesn't love watermelon on a nice summer day?
(Alyssa & Cheyla (Clover's cousins) and Clover)
Wouldn't you love a couple slices in the winter too?
I don't know about you, but I suddenly have a craving for some watermelon!
It's that time again. Time for Summer of Socks. My goal this year is to knit socks for Clover. She is the most knit-worthy person I know. She picks up a lovely skein of yarn, rubs it on her cheek, and asks "Nonni, will you make me socks?" Once socks are made, she loves to wear them even though it is summer. I ask you - could you resist making socks for someone who appreciates them that much????
Here's her first pair this summer:
Yarn: Sereknitty Yarn and Fiber Sock Options - Sweet Clover colorway (a special colorway made in her honor by Heather and gifted to me)
Needles: size 2 dpn's
Pattern: Cuff down Stockinette stitch over 44 stitches with Eye of Partridge heel
These socks may look familiar. I made an identical (except for size) pair for her Mommy back in 2008. I also used this same skein of yarn for Clover's first Christmas Ornaments. After all this, I still have some yarn left. I'm thinking of making a mini keychain sock with it.
This yarn is very special to me and I want to use every single inch of it! Heather not only gifted a skein to me, but she gave me a skein as a prize for a fundraiser I was doing in honor of my friend, Betty, who was battling Multiple Myeloma at the time. Unfortunately, Betty lost her battle just five days after Clover was born; this makes the yarn even more special to me.
I've started my next pair for SOS 2010 using more gifted yarn; I'm calling this next pair, "A Slice of Watermellon." Pictures and details soon.
ETA: Clover let me take her picture with the socks on and it is just too cute not to share with you, so I'm adding it now. Enjoy:
This poor blog has been neglected long enough! I've decided that it's time for me to get back into the swing of things and post more often. I figure a WIP post is a nice easy way to ease back into it (especially since there are only two of them!)
I started this sweater at the beginning of December with the hope that I could finish it in time to wear for Christmas - HA! I forget what derailed me in December (think it could have had something to do with all the craziness that accompanies the holidays?), but it obviously did not get finished in time. It didn't help that every time I pick this sweater up, I lose my ability to count!.
Once I gave up that silly dream, I thought that I could certainly finish it in time to wear to SPA. Again - HA! I'm leaving tomorrow for SPA, and as you can see by the picture, there's not a chance in Hell that I'm going to have it finished by then! (although I have knit about 1/3 of a sleeve since this picture was taken.)
I really have no ide why I've had such a time with this sweater; the pattern is well written with easy to read charts. I can't tell you how many times I had to rip out rows and redo them!
I'm not sure if I dare to hope to finish it in time to wear at least once this season; after all, I still have to be able to count while doing the bottom of the sleeves.
Some close ups:
This is supposed to be my February pair of socks for SAM9. I only have four days left and this is the first sock; do you think I'm going to make it? I know I can finish this sock tonight and I'll probably get the ribbing done for sock #2 tonight as well. Finishing a sock in 4 days is certainly possible, but whether I'll actually do it or not remains to be seen.
That's it for tonight - have a good one!
How unusual!
I may not be posting much lately, but I have still been knitting. Not making a whole lot of progress, but knitting, nonetheless.
I'm still plugging away on Wisteria, but I'm going to save that sad story for another day. Today, I'm going to talk about socks.
First up, a finished pair: January socks
I bought this yarn at Amy's a couple of years ago and just got around to using it. It's awesome yarn, so soft to knit with and to wear! I like a nice heavy sock in the winter but don't like it to be bulky in my shoes - this fits the bill perfectly.
When one pair of socks comes off the needles, another has to go on, right? Right.
This is a fun pattern to knit, not to difficult and yet not mind numbingly boring either. It's an easy pattern to memorize and it creates a fun design. Working with Heather's yarn is a joy, as usual; this Good Harbor yarn is especially soft with a very lovely sheen. I can't quite capture the beauty of the colors - the green is much greener, not so much yellowish/green. When I first started knitting this sock, I wasn't sure how I felt about the way it was pooling, but the further along I get, the more I like it. I'm thinking I might do an afterthought heel just so I can keep the colors pooling in the same manner right down the foot.
Speaking of socks, want to see why I am wearing one of my socks rolled down this week? Those of you who are friends on Facebook already know; for the rest of you, here's the reason:
My newest tattoo, done by the awesome Tattoo George. This picture was taken right after he finished it. I will, of course, post another picture when it is completely healed. It's on the inner side of my left leg down close to the ankle (thus, the reason for rolled down socks).
That's it for today. Have a wonderful night!
Wow, can you believe it's already the last day of the year?
I have a few final FO's for 2009 to show you.
First up - Clover's Ornaments
When Clover was born, I decided to start a Christmas tradition of making her a couple ornaments each year. Here are this year's ornaments:
We got some new end tables about a month ago. I'd like for the new tables to stay new looking for a while so figured I needed some coasters. Here are some that I whipped up the other night when I couldn't stand using a placemat or napkin any longer:
You may want to sit down for this last FO.
I have no idea why it took over three months for me to finish this pair of socks. It's not like I used some complicated pattern; it's a plain stockinette sock knit from the top down. The yarn is really nice; I like the color and the feel of it, so it's not that. Oh well, at least they are done now and they've been gifted to my friend, Mary, who loves them so all is good.
Have a great day and if you go out to celebrate tonight, be safe!
Thank goodness for the Wednesday Night Bullet Post. If it weren't for this opportunity to post a bunch of random things, I would probably post even less than I do now. It's kind of freeing to not have to worry about transitioning from one subject to the next.
So, let the random begin!
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~~I voted today.
~~No, it's not election day; I voted by absentee ballot.
~~I won't be absent on election day, but that doesn't matter. The State of Maine wants to make it easy for everyone to vote so we're allowed to vote by absentee for any old reason.
~~Even if that reason is that I'm just too lazy to go to the polling place.
~~I can get my ballot right at work, so can you blame me for not wanting to drive the 2 miles to the polling place?
~~Of course I voted NO on 1
~~Speaking of voting and NO on 1, don't forget about this and this.
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~~When you see your cat in a position like this, what is the first thing any sane knit-blogger (is there any such thing) would think to do?
~~Take photos of course, and add a WIP for good measure.
~~I've knit a bit more on this sock since that photo session yesterday morning; I'm a couple inches down the foot now.
~~Did I mention that this is a mansock?
~~Men have big feet.
~~Mansocks take a loooong time to knit.*****************************************************
~~I started a new sweater for myself - Acer by Kirsten Kapur
~~I've only done a few inches and haven't taken a picture yet.
~~I can show you the yarn I'm using though:
~~Yes, I know that's way more than I need.
~~I'll probably use the rest for something for Clover.
~~Maybe another little dress.
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~~I still haven't been doing much spinning.
~~I have a couple of bobbins with 2ply yarn that needs to be wound off.
~~They've been on the bobbins a couple of weeks.
~~I really should do something about that.
~~I also have two bobbins of singles that I need to ply.
~~I think I'll do that tomorrow night at Chicks with Wheels.
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~~Have I mentioned recently how far behind I am in responding to comments?
~~I thought I was getting all caught up Monday morning before work.
~~I went through a bunch of comments, hit the reply button, composed nice personal notes, and hit send.
~~I felt good about my progress and figured I'd respond to the rest during the day at work.
~~It hit me sometime mid-morning.
~~I was replying to the blog, not the individual commenter.
~~I quickly opened Typepad and looked for my comments.
~~They didn't seem to be there.
~~Luckily, they were all marked as spam and not visible on the blog (not that I write anything bad, but some of them had more than just a response to the comment itself).
~~I deleted them all and have no clue who I owe responses to anymore.
~~I hate the changes Typepad made to how we reply to comments.
~~Yes, they "fixed" the major problem, but I just can't remember to change the email address everytime I hit reply so that it doesn't go to the blog.
~~I guess I'm getting old.
~~I'm going to do my best to respond in a timely manner from now on (and will hopefully remember to change the "to" address in the reply!).
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~~That's all I've got.
~~Have a wonderful evening!
Remember going to slumber parties as kids?
Staying up all night, eating tons of junk food, laughing and giggling with the girls, playing games.
Those were some good times, weren't they?
Why should all that fun be left to kids? It shouldn't, and it wasn't this past weekend.
Patti, Sharon, Eileen, Carol, and I decided to have a slumber party at Sharon's house. It was a typical girls' slumber party. We laughed, we giggled, we played games (knit & spin), we ate (and ate and ate and ate). The only thing we didn't do was stay up all night. Wait, we also didn't play Truth or Dare; hmmmm, maybe next time.
We never left Sharon's house from Friday afternoon until Sunday afternoon.
Not only was it a fun weekend, it was a productive weekend.
To top off the weekend, I got home and received this from Clover:
I'll end with a picture of Clover's finished socks. I used Lorna's Laces Shepherd sock yarn for this tiny pair of socks.
They fit her perfectly and she loves them - I call that a success!
I had a crazy busy weekend, but a good deal of it was spent sitting on my butt. Kind of sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it? It's not. I went to a BB King concert on Saturday (it was awesome!) which involved sitting in the car for the 2 hour drive to the hotel, on my butt at dinner, on my butt in the hotel relaxing before it was time to go, on my butt at the concert, and more time on my butt in the car on Sunday morning to get home. Then it was right back into the car (and on my butt) for a 2 1/2 hour drive(which should have been 1 1/2 hours) to go to my niece's bridal shower, more butt sitting at the shower, and again on the way home. Man was I tired by the time I got home! Who would've thought you could get so damn tired sitting on your butt?!
I'll tell you all about the weekend in another post, but for now I'll update you on the other things I've been doing.
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Spinning:
"Spring Leaves", 4 ounces, 335 yds, fingering to sport weight, 2 ply.
This beautiful Merino Silk fiber was hand dyed and gifted to me by the wonderful Gina. I truly enjoyed spinning this and am really going to enjoy knitting it - it is VERY soft and the colors are gorgeous! Thank you so much, Gina!
8 Ounces Alpaca/Merino/Silk roving purchased at the Spinning Bee back in June. I spun the singles a bit thicker than usual hoping for a dk or light worsted weight 2 ply. The singles are still on the bobbins so we'll have to wait to see if I was successful. 
My current spinning project is the June installment of Spunky Club Fiber:
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Knitting:
I finished the TOFUtsies ankle socks.
This is pair #6 for Summer of Socks '09 (apparently I can not count because I thought I've been working on pairs 7 and 8 but after going back and checking, I see it's only 6 & 7). This pair also counts as my August socks for SAM8.
Pair number 7 is nearing completion. I have no picture of the progress, but as you might expect, the second sock looks just like the first. Once this pair is complete, I'm going to get back to work on my long neglected sweater.
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It seems Hubby has been getting a little nostalgic lately; look what he dug out the other day:
1986 and 1993
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Seen in the backyard on Friday morning:
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Have a great day!
It's really been a long time since I last posted anything that I've been working on! I was scrolling back through my posts to find the last thing I shared with you, and was shocked to realize that it was all the way back on July 2nd!
Since this is supposed to be a blog about my fibery pursuits, how about I show you what I've been working on? Don't get too excited though; I haven't done all that much in 5 1/2 weeks.
I can't remember the last time I knitted anything that wasn't a sock; I do know that it was before Summer of Socks '09 began. My poor Cabled Yoke Pullover still sits with just one sleeve left to be knit before I can move it over to the FO category. I don't see that happening anytime too soon. Probably not until SOS'09 is over on September 1st.
Now that I've shown you what I haven't been doing, let me show you a couple of FO's:
Pair #5 for SOS'09:
That's it for FO's. Do you want to see my current WIP's? You might as well say yes because I'm gonna show you anyway.
Pairs 7 and 8 for SOS'09 (Hey, I told you it was all socks all the time around here these days.)
Gusset Heel Basic Socks
(This is the progress as of yesterday morning; I've done a couple more inches since then.)
I'm using the remainder of a skein of TOFUtsies sock yarn that I used for another pair of socks back in June of '07. One skein of TOFUtsies goes a LONG way. I split the remainder in half and am just going to knit each sock until I run out of yarn. I expect they'll be fairly short socks, but we'll see.
That's enough projects for today, don't you think? I have been doing a little bit of spinning and I'll try to get some pictures and share that with you soon (soon being a relative term).
I was away at Property Tax School last week and did bring my wheel and had really hoped to get more spinning done than I did. I pretty much vegged out in the evenings - didn't keep up with the blogs; didn't get much knitting done, got very little spinning done. What a waste of alone time!
How about a bit of the random today?
~It's now July and it's STILL raining! Will it ever stop? ~It wouldn't be so bad if it weren't also COLD. Yesterday was July 1st and we broke records in these parts for the coldest high temperature since 1976! Enough already; I wan't to start breaking temps for the hottest low. ~Hubby got my pool set up early this year. ~I was in it for a couple hours one day about 3 weeks ago (it really wasn't warm enough but at that time I was already sick of the rain and took advantage of a sunny day). ~This is our busiest time of year at work. We are preparing our final tax assessments and need to get things ready for bills to be printed. ~Our computer server is having fits with our assessing software and keeps kicking us out of our program or not letting us get into it at all. ~It's been a long couple of days at work and today looks like it's going to be more of the same. ~Looking on the bright side - I can now spare a couple of minutes to write this post. In knitting news: ~I finished my Crazy socks last night.
~Surprisingly, I was even able to match up the colors! ~I'm not crazy about the Crazy Socks, but they'll be warm and my feet can use some warm (see above). ~Finishing this pair leaves me with just one WIP.
~The Cabled Yoke sweater is nearing completion - just one sleeve to go. ~That neck looks a little wonky in the picture, but it's really not. ~The "just one WIP" thing won't last long - I'm hoping to cast on for my next pair of socks tonight. In Spinning News.... ~I've got nothing. I've done no spinning since the Spinning Bee. ~That'll change tonight because tonight is Chicks with Wheels night. ~That's all the random I have for you. ~Have a great day.
Needles: size 2 1/2 dpn's
Pattern: top down, afterthought heel, stockinette stitch on 48 stitches
Now that I'm participating in two sock knit-alongs, there's been quite a bit of sock knitting going on around here.
This first pair qualifies as my June socks for SAM7. They also qualify as my first pair finished for SOS'09 (even though they were a WIP at the start of SOS'09).
Yarn: TOFUtsies
Needles: Size 2 dpn's
Top-down, plain ole stockinette stitch on 60 stitches
This teeny tiny pair of socks is my second pair finished for SOS'09. I knit most of one sock on Friday night, finishing it up on Saturday, and the second sock last night.
I knit this pair of socks from the toe-up using short roe toe and heel and a Russian bind off. I followed Wendy Johnson's easy instructions in her new book "Socks from the Toe Up"
They may be a bit funky - not really matching at all, and they may actually be a bit too teeny tiny, but I still consider them a win. Why? Well, first because Clover loves them and second because I accomplished a few of my goals in this one little pair of socks. All that and I still have enough of my handspun left to knit a pair for myself. I'll knit those toe-up as well.
I knit most of this next sock on Saturday. I was with friends when I finished the knitting on the first teeny tiny sock and knew I needed to be alone to read the directions for the bind off, so I started a mindless top-down sock. I finished it yesterday afternoon before starting the second teeny tiny sock.
I'm not really sure how I feel about the colors on this sock. They looked better in the ball, I think. Can you see how long that color repeat is? From the top all the way down almost to the toe. It's going to be pretty difficult to knit a matching sock without wasting a lot of yarn! I do like matchy matchy socks, and I'm sure there's plenty of yarn, so I'll probably give it a try.
Well, that's it for today. Have a good one (and if you're in this neck of the woods, try to stay dry!)
It's been awhile, so how about some Wednesday Night Bullet Points tonight?
~~First things first - you still have time to enter my contest; I'm taking entries until I wake up on Friday morning (6am).
~~Check out this link and be sure to roll over the image :-)
~~This past weekend was very busy, but very fun.
~~Patti, Sharon, Carol, and I left Friday afternoon and headed to Patti's timeshare condo at Loon Mountain. The plan - a weekend of spinning and knitting together and attending the Granite State Knit-In on Saturday.
~~A couple of our other friends, Eileen and Eileen (no, that's not a typo), were supposed to come with us but couldn't make it. That was the only downside to the whole weekend.
~~We missed you 1.0 and 2.0!
~~I was only able to attend one of the classes at the Knit-In, but it was an awesome class. Suzanne Federer, who used to teach at The Yarn Sellar and whose classes I've taken in the past, taught Intro. to Fair Isle knitting.
~~She only had 2 hours to teach us, but she did a great job and I do believe I got the hang of it!
~~I'm now contemplating what my first Fair Isle project will be.
~~The weekend also included me taking a side trip on Saturday to Acton, Maine to attend my niece's graduation party. (This would be the reason I was only able to attend one class.)
~~Said side trip involved an hour and forty minute drive each way - much of which was driving the Kancamagus Highway.
~~I would have loved the scenic drive through the mountains had I been the passenger - as the driver, not so much.
~~I'm a wimpy driver.
~~My niece is worth the white knuckle drive though.
~~The time spent at the condo with the girls was awesome. The condo was spacious and comfy with enough room for us to leave our spinning wheels set up and not have to move them around if we wanted to take a break and sit on the couches.
~~I started my May Spunky Club fiber last Thursday night at Chicks with Wheels and finished spinning it on Friday at the condo.
~~No picture yet because it's still sitting on the bobbin.
~~My Rainbow Tofutsie socks have gone from this: 
~~to this: 
.
~~Some day I'll learn to listen to that little voice in my head when it says "It's not working; it's too small".
~~After that failure, I decided to make plain stockinette stitch socks with the TOFUtsies.
~~My Cabled Yoke Sweater is moving along quite nicely.
~~All that remains to bed done is to knit are the sleeves, which are straight stockinette - YEEHAW!
~~That's it for now.
~~Have a great night!
I finished a pair of socks...
...and started another:
I'm saving my pennies so that I can buy my own souvenier next year.
2010 Sedalia or Bust! Right Marianne?
More birthday goodies from Patti and Roger:
Wait, I'm not done yet. Even more birthday goodies arrived in the mail on Friday. This package came from the sweet, sweet Gina.
Thank you all so much - you're all too good to me!
I received one more goodie package in the mail on Saturday - this one wasn't a gift; it was my May Spunky Club fiber:
I have just a couple more photos to share with you before I end for today:
Here's another completed pair of socks.
No, that's not a typo; I started these socks in October of 2007! The first sock sat for over a year in timeout because I thought it was too small for Hubby (and it was too big for me). As I told you when I let that first sock out of timeout a couple weeks ago, either the sock grew or hubby's foot shrunk because the darn thing fit this time! Whatever the case, this is another pair of finished socks in 2009. That makes 4 pairs of socks finished in 2009 or 4 times as many as I finished in 2008!
I'm feeling so good about the return of the sock mojo, that I joined Summer of Socks 2009 (Ravelry link here). I was a bit hesitant to join because I was kind of afraid that committing to knitting socks might be just what it takes to cause the sock mojo to take a summer vacation, but this year's theme is LOW STRESS so I think I should be okay. I haven't decided exactly what my goals will be for SOS (I still have a month to decide), but I do know that one of them will be to use some of the mountain of sock yarn I have in the stash!
Why don't you join me and the millions of others (okay, maybe that's a wee bit of an exaggeration) knitting socks this summer? Come on, you know you want to.
I think my sock mojo has returned for real. You may recall that I only completed one pair of socks last year. Here it is May 4th and I'm working on my fourth pair of 2009 (granted they weren't all started in '09, but that's not the point).
I had hoped to finish the socks designed by the talented Gina over the weekend and I did it. As a matter of fact, I finished the second sock on Saturday morning.
I love these socks; they feel so incredible on my feet! This pair of socks will live in my spinning basket to be worn when my tootsies get cold while spinning (which is all the time).
This was a quick and easy pattern that I will definitely knit again. The only thing I'll do differently on the next pair is knit the cuff longer. I was afraid I wouldn't have enough yarn to knit a longer cuff on these so I went with what the pattern suggested - turns out I had enough left that I could have made them close to my usual length.
Once these were off the needles, I went up to the stash to find some yarn to start on another pair for Hubby. While I was looking, I came across the one finished "Boy Sock" that I knit back in October using Schoeller+Stahl Sockina Cotton. You may remember the story of how this first sock was knit for the hubby and was too short requiring that I rip out the toe and knit a bit more length in the foot. Hubby tried it on again after that and said it was too tight. "Boy Sock" was banished at that point and I truly never thought it'd see the light of day again. When I found it this weekend, I decided that I would rip back to the leg and reknit the heel and foot allowing some extra room. Luckily, before ripping I asked hubby to try it on again to let me know exactly where it didn't feel right.
I'm sure you can guess where this is going - it fits him perfectly. Yippee, that means I'm halfway to another completed pair of socks! I started the second sock last night and have knit the ribbing and a few rounds of the cuff.
This weekend was filled with progress on a few different fiber projects - I'll fill you in on the rest later.
Have a great night!
It's my crazy busy time at work and will remain that way for a couple more months. Add to that the fact that I'm also very busy in my non-work life - knit night, spinning night, watching Clover on days Samm works (after I get home until Jay gets home from work), or just plain playing with Clover. This makes it really difficult to blog regularly. I've decided not to stress too much about it and stop apologizing for it, but I would really like to get in at least one fiber related post a week.
This week's post was meant to be a WIP Wednesday post, but I didn't finish it in time (see above) so you're getting it today. Just pretend for a moment that it's Wednesday as I show you my current WIP's. (The ones I'm actively working on anyway; like most of you, there are plenty more that have been stashed away to take a timeout and which may or may not be ressurected at some future date).
SPINNNIG:
CROCHETING:
Warning - Very Bright Photo Ahead - Use Caution when Viewing!
I haven't shown you any progress on my Crocus Wrap for a while and since it was a beautiful sunny afternoon after work yesterday, I decided to snap a picture on the deck. Immediately after taking the picture below, my camera battery died. Had it not died, I would have attempted to get a better photo for you.
Crocus Wrap
My handspun Louet Northern Lights yarn in the Burning Bush colorway (which is much pretty than the picture would lead you to believe; check it out here.)
I'm enjoying crocheting this wrap; I don't need it until mid-September so I'm just taking my time and working on it when the mood strikes. It doesn't look so hot unblocked, but when I stretch it out to get a preview of how it might look when finished, I'm very happy. Now I just need to lose enough weight to fit into the dress I want to wear with it!
(I should be able to do it - I've lost 11 1/2 pounds since mid-February; just have to keep my motivation up to lose another 10.)
Yes, I did!
I finished the mansocks last night.
I would have finished them early yesterday if I wasn't a moron who knits toes sideways. Of course knitting toes sideways means having to rip out several rows and pick up all those teeny tiny stitches. That takes some time let me tell you! I blame it all on Patti since it all happened while I was visiting with her. Since I have never, ever knit a toe sideways before, I just can't think of any other explanation. Makes sense, doesn't it?
I left her house with the second sock looking exactly as it did when I arrived. I didn't get a chance to pick it up again until late in the afternoon, but I did manage to finish the toe before dinner and the heel after dinner. Once all ends were woven in and pictures were taken, Clover and I brought them upstairs where she delivered them to her "Gampy".
I had to find something to work on in the waiting room of the dentist's office this morning, so I decided to "wake up" a hibernating sock. This will be my mindless knit for a while and I'm thinking that tonight I'll begin the Crocus Bud crochet wrap using my "Burning Bush" handspun yarn.
Monogamy in knitting, that is. Especially when said monogamous knitting is a plain ole stockinette stitch sock.
Hubby told me back in January that "if I wanted to, I could make him some more socks". I took that to mean "I'd love it if you would make me some more socks." That's exactly what he meant, but I was in the middle of a few things at the time so I told him that yes, I'd be happy to make him socks (he doesn't ask for much and he really does love his hand knit socks) but that they'd have to wait until I finished the projects I had going on at the time. I started the first one in January and worked a little on it here and there (key words being "a little").
Finally, I finished the first sock the other day.
Check this out - I worked my first afterthought heel (which is really just another toe where the heel goes).
Although you wouldn't know it by my last couple of posts, there has been knitting going on around here. Actually, make that knitting and crocheting going on.
CROCHET:
I posted a couple of weeks ago about the first preemie hat I made for the K3tog Preemie Hat Knitalong. I had anticipated making several more when all of a sudden, I looked at the calendar and realized that the month is almost over! How did that happen?
I had been crocheting a little hat in the style that my friend's grandmother taught me 100 years ago when I was in high school. It should have taken me only a couple of hours to do, but because of my inattention to the calendar (and apparently to the hat) it took me over a week! Well, since I cannot send just two itty bitty hats, I decided I'd look for a quick crochet pattern and whip up a few more itty bitty hats.
These hats all use leftover acrylic yarns - Caron Simply Soft, Bernat Softee Baby, Plymouth Jelli Beenz and size "H" crochet hook.
Clover personally tested the hats on her baby:
I did crochet one extra one for her baby to keep; I didn't get a picture of that though.
KNITTING:
Hubby mentioned recently that he'd like some more hand knit socks, so I went stash diving and found the perfect yarn for some mansocks . I told hubby that these would take awhile because I have some other projects I really want to get done but I've been working on them a bit here and there. I brought them to the doctor's office with me yesterday and when the doctor appologized for making me wait, I told him it was fine because I got some knitting done. I don't know about you, but I don't mind waiting in the doctor's office as long as I have my knitting with me; I actually kind of like it.
The Replacement Sweater is coming along nicely. I've tried it on and believe it will be a nice fit; a little loose but not huge.
Of course Clover had to inspect it:
She's withholding judgement until it's complete.
I really didn't mean to take a blog break; it just kind of happened. When I realized that it had been over a month since my last post (other than the Friday with Clover posts), I was shocked. I kept meaning to blog; as a matter of fact, I wrote many blog posts in my mind. Those don't really count though, do they? Unless you can read my mind, I need to make the time to actually get those posts from my head onto the blog.
Making time to get things done just hasn't been working out very well lately. When I have had the time, I haven't had the energy. I'm going to make a serious effort to change that.
Even though I haven't been around blogland very much, I have still been knitting and spinning; there's even been some crocheting. Granted, not nearly as much time spent with the needles, hooks, and wheel as I'd like, but some.
As you can imagine, there has also been a lot of new and exciting changes with Clover. You got a glimpse of one of the changes in the last post.
I don't want to bore you to death with one very lengthy post filling you in on everything at once, so I think I'll break it down into several smaller posts.
Tonight's post will be all about the FO's (don't get too excited, there aren't very many).
First - A Sweater for ME:
I Love this sweater; it fits perfectly and I've already worn it a few times since finishing.
Second- I hope you're sitting down for this one:
Third: Two FO's in one.
Goodnight!
It's not much yet, but I've only just begun. I plan to knit hats all summer, in between other projects. Won't you join me? How did this happen? There are only five days left until Christmas. We celebrate with the family on Christmas Eve (during the day), so I guess you could say I only have four days left. YIKES. How are all of you doing? Me – I’m further behind than I ever am at this point. Thank Goodness (Marcia) for Holiday Headstart or I'd be stressing out even more right now. I did most of my big (if you can call baby and toddler sweaters big) Christmas knitting throughout the year. But the shopping - haven't done nearly as well with that!
I am taking tomorrow afternoon off to finish up the rest of my shopping; I tried to do that last Saturday but I got frustrated very early on. I don’t do well in crowds or in lots of traffic. There were quite a few words coming from my mouth while driving that weren’t what you’d consider to be in the “holiday spirit”. I gave up fairly early and went home, figuring I’d do a little each night. Wrong. Here I sit with only four days left to finish, and I’ve barely accomplished anything.
I have done a bit of knitting on Jay’s socks (well, actually on Jay’s sock). Here’s a picture as of yesterday morning:
Since taking this picture, I have plied half of it. I find the plying to be the most difficult
part of spinning; am I alone? I’m hoping
to finish this up tonight. It’s making a
really pretty yarn!
And speaking of pretty:
I think I've gotten into a bit of a small project rut but I don't see anything changing until after the holidays. I thought I was pretty much done with Christmas knitting, but as it turns out, I can always find just one more gift I want to make (or two or ten)! This is okay because I'm knitting for people I really want to knit for, but I'm craving a challenge! Oh well, there'll be time after Christmas.
Until then, I'll just plug away at the small projects:
This post is all about knit alongs.
I finished the Bob Socks this morning.
These socks fulfill my requirements for two knit alongs; SAM4 and Holiday Headstart.
Good timing too, considering today is the start of
. Carole and Margene are hosting this knit along for the third year. The idea is to spend some time over the next couple of weeks knitting for those less fortunate than yourself. Click the button to read more about it. This knit along coincides with another one I’ve had listed in my sidebar since the beginning of the month (but haven’t mentioned because I haven’t done anything with it yet). Gina is hosting
(again, click the button for details).
Can you guess what my next project will be? Yep, some mittens for charity. There are several patterns linked on the KUO blog; why not knit a pair or two or more? Did I mention, there are prizes for both knit alongs?!
What are you waiting for? Go raid the stash and start some mitten knitten knitting.
Boy, this cold has kicked my butt! I'm not usually such a wimp about a cold. Yeah, I'll whine all day long about it, but usually I'm still able to function. Not with this one. I went to bed on Wednesday night and proceeded to shiver and shake all night long, even with a down comforter, two afghans, wool socks, and flannel jammies on! This is where I spent all day Thursday and most of Friday:
I spent the days blog reading and sleeping (and using up that entire box of tissues in one day). Never did touch the stocking until Friday evening when I was able to sit up in my knitting chair in the living room for a few hours. You know I'm really sick when I can't even manage to knit!
Things started looking up a little bit on Friday night and I was able to finish the knitting portion of the stocking. I then found a site to create some knitting graph paper according to the gauge being worked and planned how I'd put "CLOVER" in duplicate stitch on the front, which I did on Saturday morning. I'm so pleased with how this stocking came out. Samm really loves it, too.
Check out the pocket; isn't it cute? I wasn't sure how that would come out, but I'm pretty pleased with it. I used an i-cord bind off across the top the of pocket; I think it put a nice finishing touch to it.
Some close ups:
After finishing the stocking, I decided I HAD to get out of the house; I was going nuts (plus we had no food in the house). So, I went grocery shopping - not a good move. I really wasn't quite up to being on my feet for two hours yet. I was totally wiped out! I spent the rest of Saturday quietly - taking an afternoon nap and knitting. I needed to be able to get up on Sunday morning and make it to work at the gym. It was not easy getting up, but I did it. Thankfully, it was an extremely slow day at the gym so I didn't have to get up to clean as much as usual and I managed to finish the first "Bob Sock" and start the second. After work, I took a nice afternoon nap and vegged on the couch. I spent the evening quietly knitting on the second Bob sock and catching up on some blog reading (you guys doing the NaBloPoMo are killing me!)
So, want to see the Bob Socks? I rather like the colors I'm using; I think they look kind of sock monkeyish (new word) :-)
Plans for today? Well, since it's a holiday, I get another day to relax. I plan to take it easy and do some spinning until I have to meet Patti at the gym. Luckily, I'm feeling a bit better today but I think I'll take it a little bit easy at the gym. Then back to work tomorrow.
Ooops, I almost forgot; Chappy's mom is having another calendar contest. Post a picture of your November calendar and you could win one of her beautiful calendars. So, here's my entry:
Each year, my Dad makes a Family Calendar. It's so much fun to see which photos he'll choose (as long as you're not the one whose embarrassing photo is chosen!) You have until the 15th to get your entry in; what are you waiting for?
I may have said this a time or two or twenty, but just where do the weekends go?
Another thing - how in the heck does everyone keep up with everything; blog reading, blog posting, knitting EVERYthing you want to knit, spinning, and stuff around the house? (Not that I've ever been the one to do the majority of the housework, but it seems I never have enough time to do the little things around the house that I want to.) I guess I just need to win Power Ball and be done with it, huh?
Anyway, enough of that. Let me tell you what I did with my weekend (short as it was). I slept until almost 8:30 on Saturday morning; I seem to be doing a lot more of that lately. It used to be, if I slept until 7 I felt like I'd slept the day away. It was a crappy, rainy day and I thought I'd just veg out at home and knit. Sounds like a good way to spend a rainy day, doesn't it? Yeah, well I still needed to go to Wally World to pick up a few items so I just amended my plan to veg out for the afternoon and knit. Nope, didn't happen. I did do some spinning though.
First, I soaked and hung up the green merino that I had finished spinning and plying on Friday night. This is where it stayed until this morning, when it was finally dry enough to take down:
Pretty convenient to have that hook in the ceiling above the tub; I didn't even put it there. Hubby used to use it when he wanted to give his hanging plants a good watering (when we had some). I couldn't believe how long it took for this to dry, and it was pretty annoying to have to keep moving it to the hook on the door when showering (hmmm, maybe the steam from all the showers held up the drying process; duh). Anyway, want to see what it looks like now? Of course you do.
(click for bigger)
This is a very good representation of the actual color; I'm kind of amazed that I was able to take such an accurate photo! This was spun from the gorgeous 100% merino fiber that Gina hand dyed (colorway: Woodland Forest) and gifted to me. That's 3 oz. of what seems, I'd guess, to be worsted weight (didn't use the wpi thingamabob). There's about 165 yards there. I love the dye job that Gina did; the subtle variations in color are just beautiful. This yarn is so very soft. I'm not sure yet what I'll make with it, but for now, it's sitting happily in my basket of handspun yarns (most of which were spun by others and gifted to me).
Back to Saturday - after hanging the spun yarn in the bathroom, I pulled out the fiber I purchased recently from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. I purchased one of their Sheep 2 Shoe kits with absolutely no intention of spinning sock yarn (I'm no fool; I know that at this point in my spinning life, I wouldn't be able to spin it the way I need to for socks). I just liked the colors and knew that Samm would too and thought there'd be enough to make something for her or Clover. I was right about Samm liking it; she was home when the package arrived and she has been hounding me to hurry up and finish the green merino so that I could start spinning that. Here's what it looked like when I dumped it all out on the floor:
I had to put the big picture up so that you'd get the full effect of just how COLORFUL this yarn is! Can you say "Clown puke"? Actually, I love the bright colors, which by the way, BMFA calls "Sherbert". I was very careful where I broke the fiber so that I could keep the color sequence (not that you can see it here). I thought I'd try to spin a single ply heavy worsted weight to make some stuffed fish for Clover's room. Samm wanted felted fish, but this is superwash merino, so that's not going to happen with this. I had a bit of trouble with the spinning, though; I was overspinning it bigtime! I'm not quite sure what I need to do - do I loosen the tension? HELP! Anyway, what I did with the bit that I'd spun was to wrap it tightly on the niddy noddy trying to remove a bit of the twist as I wound it and then I soaked it while still on the niddy noddy and let it dry. Seems to have helped a little, but it's still pretty energized! Here's a picture of the little 35 yard skein:
I've predrafted a bunch of the fiber and I'll try spinning it again when I figure out what I need to adjust.
I did a very little bit of knitting on Saturday night; I began a boot sock for my brother-in-law for Christmas. Only did the ribbing and a few rows of the cuff:
I'm using Paton's Classic Merino in Rich Red and Dark Grey. I'm using the garter rib stitch from Sensational Knitted Socks and as you may have guessed from the picture, will have contrasting rib, heel, and toe. I'm thinking of doing another pair with the colors opposite.
Sunday morning was, as always, spent at work at the gym. While there I managed to get quite a bit done on Hubby's sock.
I should have finished this sock yesterday, but when I got home from work (after running some errands), I laid on the couch, alternately watching a Law & Order marathon and napping. I did knit a bit more on it after dinner, but just couldn't stay awake long enough to finish the damn thing! I went to bed at 9:30; I think I must be getting old.
Can it really be Thursday already? The last several days have just flown by! I've meant to post; really, I have, but there just aren't enough hours in the day. I'm also incredibly behind on my blog reading and e-mails. I thought that with two weeks off work I'd be able to keep up with things. Wrong!
So, what have I been doing with all my free time? Well, the weather has been absolutely perfect for several days now so I'm sure you can all guess where I've spent a good amount of my time. Yep, the pool. It's been great, very relaxing. I've spent a couple of hours each afternoon just floating and reading a very good book.
I've also completed some projects and started some new ones.
I crocheted a couple of granny squares for Colleen; she's putting blankets together for her local children's hospital. 
I started a new sweater for Clover on Tuesday; I was just feeling a very strong need to make her a sweater NOW. So while at Chicks with Sticks, I picked up some yarn in a really pretty mint green color with flecks of pink to make the Baby Kimono from Mason Dixon Knitting. I took a picture of my progress so far, but it is a really crappy picture so I don't think I'll post it here. This is such a quick knit, I should be able to show you the finished picture real soon (unless I've just jinxed myself by saying that!)
Speaking of Chicks with Sticks, Mel and The Sheep were unable to attend and both were really missed :-( We did have a special, first time visitor this week, though. Mel's partner, David, joined us; it was great to finally meet him and hopefully he'll join us again.
Yesterday, I finally finished the test knit I've been working on; it's currently drying on the blocking board. It'll be a couple of weeks before I can show you pictures, but believe me when I say, it'll be worth the wait. I am very happy with this FO.
This one's for you Patti; also finished yesterday:
School Socks
(this is a strange picture; guess I won't stand the socks up to take pictures again)
Yarn: Soctoberfest by Scout
Needles: Crystal Palace size 1 1/2 dpn
Pattern: Plain ole stockinette on 64 stitches
These are my August socks for SAM4; finished just in time. The first sock only took 2 days of classroom knitting to complete; the second sock took almost a month!
That brings us to today. I got a new hairdo this morning (no pictures until after the cold sore from hell is gone). Spent a couple of hours in the pool this afternoon and then spent some time with Alice on the deck. After my lesson with Cheryl and Manise on Saturday, I put Alice away until the test knit was complete. Now that I've finished that, I can spend some time getting to know her better. I sat on the deck spinning for about 1 1/2 hours; I must have looked pretty funny sitting there in my bathing suit spinning away. Good thing I have a nice private back yard. Here's what I accomplished:
(Apparently, I'm a lousy photographer; the colors are actually more purple than this photo shows.)
The fiber is some BFL I got from Amy in a "Learn to Spin" spindle kit that I bought back in the fall. This is about one ounce; there's a total of 4 to spin. I think I'm doing pretty well, although there are some overspun and underspun bits. I think I'm getting the hang of it though.
That brings us up to date; I'm hoping to spend some time tomorrow and over the weekend catching up on some blog reading and e-mails.
I'll try to be better about posting, too. No promises though :-)
You may not be able to tell from my last several posts, but I have been knitting. I'll update you on what's on the needles and off the needles and also one project that I can't decide what to do with.
I brought a big bag full of yarn and my spindle with me to school; I always think I'll get more knitting time in when I go away than I actually do. I was only able to knit during two of my classes, and in that time I started and completed one sock.
I'm calling this my "School Sock" for obvious reasons. This is the third time knitting with this yarn; when I say that, I mean it's the third time with this same skein of yarn! I cast on for two other patterns with it over the winter, but they just didn't work - one was too small and one was just not the right pattern for the yarn. Third time's a charm; this sock fits perfectly and I like the yarn in the plain ole stockinette stitch. I've cast on for the second sock and this will be my "to go knitting"; nice, easy, mindless knitting. The yarn is Scout's Soctoberfest yarn and I'm knitting this pair on size 1.5 dpn's over 64 stitches.
While in Waterville, I visited Yardgoods Center, the LYS (no website that I can find). The store has kind of a cluttered feeling; I think I'm spoiled by my LYS and have difficulty finding something to buy in a cluttered environment. I was just about to leave when I spotted an adorable stuffed bunny rabbit. Samm had asked me if I'd make a stuffed bunny for her friend's daughter's first birthday (which was this past Sunday) and I thought this would be perfect. I bought the pattern and the yarn and made the bunny in two evenings in the motel room; it's such a quick and easy knit taking only about three hours of actual knitting time. I sewed the eyes and nose on when I got home and it was ready in plenty of time for the party.
Pattern: "Magic Friends" by Barbara Boulton
Yarn: Stylecraft Charleston
Needles: size 10 1/2
The pattern also has a kitty and a teddy bear; the only difference is the shape and size of the ears. This is knit in one piece with no seaming except to close the hole at the top of the head when you're done stuffing it. I've already bought some yarn to make the kitty for Jay's niece's first birthday, which is in a couple of weeks. I see more of these in my future; easiest stuffed animal ever!
That was the exent of the knitting while away. Since I've been home, I've made a washcloth for Rabbitch's drive, a baby washcloth for Clover, started a bib (from Mason-Dixon Knitting), and have finished the body of the Simple Knitted Bodice.
Washcloth for Rabbitch using Peaches & Cream cotton
Washcloth for Clover using Bernat Cotton Tots 
I haven't taken a picture of the progress on the SKB yet; I'm not sure I will. Believe it or not, that is the project I'm not sure about. I think I made it too big and I'm just not happy with it but I'm not yet ready to admit defeat. I'm picking up the neck stitches and I'll decide whether or not to finish once I see how that looks. It's a mighty expensive knit to make any rash decisions.
Before leaving for school, I finished my July Holiday Headstart project.
Pattern: Yankee Knitter Fisherlad Guernsey
Yarn: Plymouth Encore, Color 0405
Needles: Addi Turbo sizes 5 & 7
There has been no spinning in the last couple of weeks; I'll have to remedy that pretty soon! I have some news on that front too, but I'll save that for another post.
I have MANY projects that I'd like to start soon, but the next two will be my August Sockamania socks (once the School Socks are done) and a test knit for Lark which I plan to start this weekend.
I guess that's enough for today; I was planning to tell you about my afternoon with Sara and Cheryl, but this post is long enough as it is. That'll be next.
Have a great day!
Heaven forbid I should finish up everything on the needles before beginning something new! I finished my Sockapalooza Pal's socks on Friday night as I'd hoped, and instead of getting busy finishing my Simple Knitted Bodice, I cast on for another project. In my defense, I hadn't yet made anything in July for the Holiday Headstart project.
First, the socks:
(The cuffs really are the same length even though they don't look it in this pic)
Pattern: Waffle Rib from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch
Yarn: Socks that Rock medium weight, "Monsoon" colorway (Feb. 07 Club yarn)
Needles: Crystal Palace size 1.5 (size 1 for the heel)
I'm pretty happy with them. At first, I was a bit disappointed with the pooling in the gusset; but have decided that I actually kind of like it. I don't think there's anything I could have done about it anyway, except maybe use an afterthought heel. I didn't even think about that until the socks were just about done and there was no way I was ripping both back to the cuff and reknitting all that! Besides, I've only used the afterthought heel twice and that was on felted Christmas stockings. I'm not confident enough in my ability yet to use it for gift socks.
Next up, the new project: 
Finished front and beginning of back of Yankee Knitter's Fisherlad Guernsey. This is for my great-neice, Ella. This is a really quick knit; I hope to finish it in the next couple of days.
I finished spinning the fiber for Clover's mittens, now I need to ply it. 
There's a lot more there than it appears; hopefully, it's enough for the itty bitty mitties :-)
I still haven't even started the July Sockamania socks; I'm hoping I can finish Ella's sweater and get going on the socks before the end of the month. I'm thinking if I could knit a pair in less than 2 days (as I had to do for Sock Madness), I should be able to get this pair done. Only time will tell, I guess.
That's it for today. Have a great one!
THURSDAY EDITION
Where does the time go, and how is it that the work days seem to drag on FOREVER, but the evenings just fly by? I fully intended to use the Sheep's WNBP (Wednesday Night Bullet Post) format for a post last night, but by the time I was ready to sit down, it was already 8:45! WTF? How did that happen? I hadn't knit a stitch or read a single blog yet, how could it be that late?
But it was, and I had to choose between writing a WNBP, reading blogs, knitting on the Sockapalooza sock, knitting on the Simple Knitted Bodice, or doing some spinning I've been wanting to get to. The spinning won out (the fact that I want to use the resulting yarn for Clover probably influenced my decision a teensy bit). I had some of the same fiber I spun for her hat left over and am hoping I can spin enough to make a teeney tiny pair of baby mittens. I'm spinning a whole lot finer now and will have to ply this. (I really don't have a clue how to do that, but I'll figure it out.)
Check out how thin this is compared to the first batch. It's also a LOT more consistent. After spinning for about 1 1/2 hours, I took the remaining fiber and pre-drafted it so it'll be all ready for the next spinning session. Here's what I have left.
Fuzzy Balls :-)
I did finally finish the cuff of my Sockapalooza pal's 2nd sock this morning.
The plan is to knit the heel and at least through the gusset decreases tonight and try to finish it tomorrow night. I really don't know what is taking me so long to knit this pair of socks. Well, that's not really true; I do know. I seem to have a bit of ADD lately and can't stay focused on only one thing. There are just so many things I want to knit, then there's Ravelry, and blog reading, and planning baby knits. I need to focus!
Speaking of blog reading, Bloglines has done something really screwy to me. One minute it said I had something like 70 blogs to read, and the next minute it said 20! I do not read that fast folks; it just willey nilley marked a bunch of my feeds as read. I am not a happy camper!
It's Wednesday (for about another hour) and I've decided to steal the idea follow the lead of the Sheep and do a WNBP (Wednesday Night Bullet Post). Here goes:
Yarn: Socks that Rock, medium weight, Monsoon colorway (Feb 07 club yarn)
Pattern: Waffle Rib pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch
(sorry the pic is so blurry)
I finished this on Saturday and soaked it and hung it to dry overnight. I'm not sure how much there is, certainly enough for a baby hat or something small. I still have more of the same fiber to spin. I love the colors and I'm pretty happy with the yarn (although you can definitely tell which part is the beginning!).
Goodnight.
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